F1 links: Barrichello to Williams?

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The 2010 F1 drivers rumour of the day is that Rubens Barrichello wil join Williams, something which was first suggested by Autosport a couple of weeks ago. The Brazilian press are reporting it today, and claiming that Williams will use Cosworth power instead of Renault. As that is likely to be a cheaper option it makes a great deal of sense.

That would most likely give us Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg at Brawn, with Nico Hulkenberg joining Barrichello at Williams. Here’s some more of the day’s stories, including yet another deadline extension for Donington Park.

Rubinho será piloto da Williams em 2010 (Globo Esporte)

More claims Barrichello will join Williams in 2010. Thanks to Ceolin for the tip.

Donington gets new deadline extension

Either Bernie Ecclestone is convinced Simon Gillett can pull it off, or he’s desperate not to cave to Damon Hill’s demands for a multi-year deal for Silverstone.

Come back Ceefax, all is forgiven (Daily Mirror)

"So much for the BBC, who are too busy squandering £200m of licence-payers' money on petrolhead tedium to notice the nation's overwhelming preference for football ahead of Formula One." Football fan throws toys out of the pram with amusing effect. I couldn't resist leaving a comment.

These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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27 comments on “F1 links: Barrichello to Williams?”

  1. I hate football fans like that who whine and moan at the first glimpse of anything other than football.

    The football always gets top billing on the sports coverage on every channel no matter how trivial the story is (some argument about a transfer technicalities or visas or whatever, or some manager said something “controversial”… and then they accuse F1 of being “all politics”). The only exceptions are stuff like Lewis Hamilton’s title win last year, or his title blowout the year before.

    For christ’s sake. England had already qualified. Is it really that important that you get to see them go through the motions, playing out their remaining ties against some remote country who have no chance of qualifying?

  2. “claiming that Williams will use Cosworth power instead of Renault. As that is likely to be a cheaper option it makes a great deal of sense.”

    Does it, Keith? I thought the Cossie donk was supposed to be ass-slow… yet all the new rookie teams were “forced” into using it.

    Then again, maybe if Williams use KERS next year… :D

    1. It makes sense to me. Williams are strapped for cash at the minute or so I’ve heard.

      So having the Cosworth deal for a year or two to get their finances in order, or for the economy to get itself in better shape seems the logical thing to do for me :)

    2. Prisoner Monkeys
      13th October 2009, 1:22

      I thought the Cossie donk was supposed to be ass-slow

      I might be a little off thepace, but not the three to four seconds that was rumoured. Sir Frank is too smart to put himself in a position where the only engin available isthe worst on the grid; you can bet he explored every other option on the grid in detail before asking to be released from the Toyota contract.

      No, I suspect the rumours of them being o poor were made up when teams accused the FIA of forcing them to use the Cosworth because people wanted something else to attack the FIA with. Besides, Coswoth have a name to protect and the FI is pinning the future of the sport on these new teams. It’s in both their interests to see that thoe teams get the bet engine available.

      I suspect the Cosworth will suprise a lot of people.

      1. It’s in both their interests to see that thoe teams get the bet engine available.

        I suspect the Cosworth will suprise a lot of people.

        I agree. Where’s the first power circuit of the year, Sepang? Wouldn’t it be “surprising” if the new engines were noticeably faster on long straights ;)

        1. I’m curious. How much are Cosworth allowed to do to the engine before it starts to deliver them to the teams?

          To what extent is it bound by the engine freeze since it’s engines are not being used in the sport at the moment?

          And what is to stop them running them continuously on a dyno to find out all the things that could go wrong and try to prevent them..??

      2. They cannot be much worse than the toyota engine. It hasnt proved to be the class of the field or even a competitive package from a engine point.
        It may not be the merc or the ferrari engine, but I bet it is as good as the others.

  3. I was racing at Silverstone last week and i spoke to a fella called Alfi who i think runs the formula series experiences and who spoke to me in very political language…

    I asked him, if Silvi would get the Grand prix?

    His reply was, We dont really mind, sure it would be nice but we definately dont need it. We make a loss from F1 and now we have Moto GP which we are hoping to make substantial plus figures. Bernie last year wanted a figure close to £18m for the event aswell as 50% of all concessions. In 2010 he wants a figure close to £22m still with the 50% and we just cant afford that. We would like both Moto GP and F1 but we can easily survive without F1.

    Do you think this is why Bernie is being very patient with Donnington? Because Silverstone maybe are not begging Bernie for F1 and he may get his £22m and 50% from Donnington.

    After all, there is plenty of time!

    1. Lets not get started with Bernie and fom/cvc.

      1. mmmm! interesting point tho Mav!

  4. Sort of stupid but why would you get rid off a driver that is going to finish in the top three in drivers points just because hes getting old? use him until he retires Rubens still has alot of talent left in him.

    1. I completely agree with you Tim.. Barrichello could win the championship, imagine getting rid of the World Champion?! Even if Button wins it, Rubens was the perfect team mate as he kept all the others out of contention.. I definitely think Brawn GP should keep their drivers for 2010.

      1. HounslowBusGarage
        13th October 2009, 8:57

        I think you might find that having a German driver in the team is a pre-condition for having Mercedes engines next year.

  5. Honestly, I think it’s am issue of marketability. Old, dominant champions(schumi) rake in the cash, but the case of Rubens, while an he’s an excelent driver, his marketing value comes from his race seat, not his name. In ads people will respond to him as “that’s a Formula 1 Driver!” not “that’s Rubens Barrichello, who is a formula 1 driver.” And a marketing campaign using the image of a racecar driver is inherently appealing to concepts of youth and danger. So, all things(like skill) being equal, unless the old driver can pull in money with his name alone, a younger driver will be more appealing. That said, Rubens is better than most of the young drivers on the market, which is why he still has a race seat. But it certainly is a disadvantage for him.

  6. Barrichello is indeed joining Williams.
    See the link

  7. Is there any more mention in rumors that Williams will buy swap its shares with Cosworth to form a stronger partnership? I heard it a few weeks ago and nothing after that.

  8. Would Williams be able to attach their KERS to a Cossy, or a Renault for that matter? I am sure there was an article about Cossy designing their own KERS system (before the bubble burst), so wouldn’t they expect Williams to use that in preference to any home-made machinery? Or maybe this is where the two companies would pool resources, at a time when every other engine maker has dumped the whole thing….

  9. I think he desperate not to deal with Silverstone.
    But I think many Fanatic will love this circuit.

  10. I always thought Barri should go to Renault after Brawn. Of course that was before Piquet-gate. Williams is the best alternative. Can Williams rekindle the old glory of yore? We do know an engine company typically has a “factory alliance” type involvement with a team. Perhaps Williams could become the factory Cosworth runners. They do have seniority on the Cosworth grid. Hopefully, Frank and Pat can get their shi..p together. I think if Brawn had not underestimated Barri’s season, he definitely would have more points. Spain was his unquestionably. I can’t wait until he writes a book about his career, time with Ferrari, Brawn, and Schu. He will be the F1 driver with the longest career.

  11. While I want Button to win the championship, and he is obviously still the favourite to do so, I think it would be quite funny if Barrichello won the championship and so took the coveted Number 1 to Williams with him next season. Especially when you think all the times a driver has won the championship with Williams but weren’t at the team the following season so Williams didn’t get to have Number 1 on their car.

  12. I am rooting for Rubens to win
    cocky Jenson does not deserve it

  13. Loved your comment on that Mirror blog, Keith. Interestingly enough, I noted that 11 of 22 listings in the Sportblog column on the right of the page were motorsport blogs. Perhaps the author of the post isn’t quite in tune with reality. Even his comments on football were in a Motorsport section of the blogs, lol.

  14. So Rubens is to Williams…..for sure.

    My, my, wouldn’t Brawn just throw the toys out the pram if Rubens won the WDC and took ” #1 ” to Williams ? :)

    I’m sure Rubens will raise his game for Interlagos, and with Button still struggling for form, at the end of the day it may be Rubens on top step of the podium.

    Right, then, managed to work all the popular F1 catch phrases into one post.:)

    Seriously, though, I do hope Rubens just beats the pants off everyone these next 2 races. I think Button has lost his edge and don’t expect him to provide a good showing at Interlagos or Abu Dhabi. Rubens only real competition these next 2 races will come from Vettel.

    And it’s nice to see Sir Frank values Rubens more than Brawn, though his salary is still far less than what he should be paid for his experience.

    1. I will bet that if Barrichello wins the wdc, that Button will practically be out of the game. He is already having salary disputes with Brawn and Mercedes probably dont want him anyway. If he isnt the wdc his marketability goes right down the sewer.
      It is everything for Button that he wraps up the championship this weekend.

  15. schumi the greatest
    14th October 2009, 13:36

    i doubt williams will pay barrichello 8 million a year they dont pay very well i dont think

    Williams want rubens because of his experience…everyone expects hulkenberg to be in the other car so rubens experience will be invaluable in helping develpop the car and he can be relied on to bring it home..hes also still performing very well in my opinion…look at coulthards last year…people were almost begging him to stop to prevent him being thought of a rubbish in years to come.

    Rubens is still good value in my opinion and while some people (wrongly in my opinion) get all excited about button being “schumacher-esque” (please!!) rubens has pushed him very hard in the 4 seasons they have been teamates

  16. I just had an interesting thought when i read the following story. How likely do you think it would be for Raikkonen to go to red bull and Webber become Lewis’s team mate at McLaren. Just a thoght????

    http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/091017101027.shtml

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